


Oppression

by needybb4life



Category: Undertale
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Angst, Emotional Abuse, Mental Abuse, More tags will be added as the story progresses, Nothing described in detail but I want you guys to be safe, Papyrus is a Sad Bean, Physical Abuse, Vent Piece, being kept against one's will, mentions of Papyrus - Freeform, nothing happy here, nothing major, oppression of one's mental health and growth, paps isn't the focus of this fic, sans is an asshole, subtle hints of abuse, trigger warnings at beginning of each chapter, yet - Freeform, you had a very bad time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-01 12:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20815220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needybb4life/pseuds/needybb4life
Summary: op·pres·sion/əˈpreSHən/noun1.) prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control.2.) the state of being subject to unjust treatment or control.3.) mental pressure or distressEvery time I try to grow, you trim my branches.I’m drowning at sea and you shove me back underwater when I try to breathe.





	1. Can Anybody Hear Me?

**Author's Note:**

> Vent Piece that I never wanted to write. Sometimes...the one you love the most is the most deceiving, distrustful, manipulative person and you have to rip their presence from your life like a bandaid. You have to let the wound air out or it will never heal.

Dear Reader,

If you're reading this, you've found my secret stash of letters I never gave to Sans. This is my last entry for I am leaving. I never wanted this or what it entailed. I had never known anything else so it wasn't clear to me in these past 10 years but I have finally had enough. I am done with his passive-aggressive comments and his ability to manipulate me into doing whatever he wanted me to do. Contrary to popular belief, I am not his puppet and never will be again. For anyone. I'm writing this to you, Dear Reader, for you have found yourself in a situation you are severely unprepared for. I'm guessing you have a history of depression, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, and/or any other myriad of mental troubles and he's swept in, promising to help you manage them and to be your rock. 

DO NOT TRUST HIM. DO NOT RELY ON HIM. 

That's what he wants. He lures you in with promises for a better future with the amazing person he's painted himself to be but it's all a sugar-coated lie. Once the sugary outside has been dissolved, all that's left is a bitter core that leaves a bad taste in your mouth no matter how many times you brush your teeth. He is the vilest being I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. He thrives on your pain and suffering and the more miserable you are, the more his power on you grows. 

He is no saint. He has no good intentions. His soul is as black and slimy as his outward features. I urge you now, for the sake of yourself and all of your family and friends who care about you, RUN.

RUN FAR AWAY and never look back, never cast him a second glance, never give on that you're hesitating because he will lock onto that and use it to his utmost advantage. He preys on your weaknesses and strengths all at once, managing to build you up and break you back down all in one go. Leaving you in shambles and doubting yourself around every corner.

Once he had his claws in me, it was the hardest thing in the world to rip them out. His love is like the slowest venom. You don’t realize you’re dying until you’re almost to the point of no return. The epiphany only hit me when I felt like I couldn't move on my own, I needed a helping hand for the simplest of things. The antidote is the realization that I had been held back for so many years and it was time to stand up for myself and reach my branches as far out as I could, letting the light shine in and banish the darkness that resided there for so long. The Dark will always be there but I have a new, small glimmering spot of hope that’s so fragile I felt like I had to protect it with vile words and horrible lashings towards those I depend on. The venom will course through my veins for years to come but the further I recede from the source, the less I will feel it, the less it will affect me. The more I will feel like I can open up without being criticized for the littlest things. And as the sun sets on that chapter of my life, the dawn of a new one fills me with determination and I finally feel like I can slowly begin to breathe again...for I have been holding my breath for most of my time with him.

I hope this letter will help you to realize your mistake. Please do not take my words for granted and take heed to my warnings. He will own you. He will ruin you. He will break you.

Best Wishes,  
Reader

P.S. - Sans, if you've found these letters

Fuck you and I hope you never get your hands on anyone else ever again. Rot in Hell.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sans closed the letter and put it back into the small brown box with the others. He rubbed his skull and grimaced at the feeling of the ashes swirling around his face from the fire he had going in the pit in his back yard. Picking up the box, he walked over to the small, angry blaze that had just been breathed into life and threw the box into its greedy clutches, it's fiery tendrils licking and consuming until there was nothing left but a burnt husk. He sighed and his permagrin grew slightly bigger as he looked up to the starry night sky. He breathed in and exhaled a large sigh, extinguishing the fire with a few handfuls of dirt.

Muffled screams and bangs sounded from his shed and he truly grinned, a manic expression on his face. His starling would not be leaving as she had originally thought. He was her everything and he couldn't see how she could survive without his guidance. It was a big scary world out there and he would protect his SOULmate with his life if he had to. Some would call him sick but he just considered himself a rational person. If he locked her up, she couldn't leave and if she couldn't leave, she couldn't be hurt. He shambled his way over the shed and patted the wood firmly, noting that the sounds stopped as soon as he touched the door.

"i wouldn't have to do this if you had just behaved. when you learn to appreciate all i've done for you then, and only then, will you be allowed back out. please know that i'm doing this for your own good."

A loud bang resounded through the shed and he chuckled as he heard a muffled curse as he imagined his sweet little human curling their hand to their chest. They probably had the cutest little glare on their face, flushing red with anger and their eyes were undoubtedly large with unshed tears as they tried, and failed, to keep their roiling emotions in check. 

He patted the rough wood once more before turning and heading back inside, locking his back door. His human would learn. Just as Papyrus had. It's better this way.


	2. Suffocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader struggles with unresolved feelings and is confronted. A meeting is to be arranged with Papyrus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I cranked a chapter out because I couldn't get this idea out of my head. Papyrus's point of view is coming up but I felt like I had to give some preface to Reader and expand on the idea. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings:  
Emotional Abuse  
Mental Abuse  
Implied Physical Abuse

It was a perfect day. You had taken a week off work and you were near the end of your time away. Cuddled up next to you were your boyfriend and his brother. Sans snored lightly in his sleep, Papyrus’ “Nyeh”s were adorable, and you struggled to get your phone out quickly and quietly so you could sneak a few photos to post on the Undernet. You had just marathoned some superhero movies (Papyrus’s influence. It was sweet that Sans thought of his brother so much.) and it was pretty late, all of you having eaten yourselves into food comas. Popcorn and a different myriad of candy wrappers, ranging from airheads to cinnamon balls, littered the surrounding area. You cringed at the thought of cleaning up but shrugged it off before too long. It was a problem for future you. 

Yawning, you stretched fully, doing your best not to jostle either of the skeletons and slowly wriggled your way from inbetween them. They immediately latched onto one another without you as a buffer and you wanted to squeal from how serene they looked. Sans was so tiny, curled in the arms of Papyrus and it seemed as if he was trying to cacoon him despite his size. His grip tightened and he koalaed around Paps ribs, snuggling deeper into his hold. Your stomach flipped and you suddenly felt sick. You shook your head and scolded yourself for the negative thoughts, pushing them back into that dark little box in the back of your mind.

You picked up the popcorn bowl and tried very hard not to look at the stain on the coffee table, your forehead throbbing from the memory. You sighed and once again shoved the negativity into the box. You began to rub the scar on the side of your face, the diagonal line a painful reminder of how clumsy you could be. If you had just cleaned up when he asked, you never would have tripped yourself over him like you had. The stitches and headaches you had gotten served as a lesson to strive to do better. Walking into the kitchen you set the bowl on top of all the other dishes that had racked up from the evenings' activities. You looked out your window. The moon shone bright and cast haunting shadows across the trees your house was nestled between. Stars twinkled with laughter and you envied how free they were for a moment before scolding yourself again. You were thankful for what you had. You were here because you wanted to be. Even as you continued to tell yourself this, tears threatened to spill and a feeling screamed inside you, demanding to be heard, to be given a voice. Your little black box was full to the brim and was dangerously close to toppling over, exposing all the raw nerves you’d pushed down for so long.

You slapped a hand over your mouth and muffled the sobs that wracked your body. You cried as quietly as possible, as discreetly as possible. It still wasn’t quite enough.

“babe? you alright in there?”

You inhaled quickly and held it, wiping your face trying to hide your crime and you turned around when you felt you had composed yourself. 

“Hey. Sorry, did I wake you?”

“nah. i woke up on my own. that didn’t answer my question though,” he walked up to you and put a hand on your shoulder, the look of understanding and pity caused bile to rise up and burn your throat. You swallowed hard.

“I’m fine! Really I am,” you smiled as best as you could but you knew it was more of a grimace than anything. You held your breath as you heard the line you could quote in your sleep.

“i hate when you lie to me.”

You panicked and scrambled to fix it but you both knew it was too late.

“all i’m trying to do is help you but you never let me in. how am i supposed to do that when you won’t even accept it? sometimes I don’t even know why i try with you. it’s so obvious you don’t want my help so either you can stop being an ungrateful bitch and let me help, or i’ll be leaving faster than you can say ‘ketchup’.” The scowl on his skull twisted your stomach into knots and you feared you were going to lose your dinner if this interaction didn’t end soon.

“NO! No, I didn’t mean to come off as ungrateful. You know I appreciate everything that you do and that I wouldn’t trade you for the world.” Your skin crawled with the lies that spewed from your mouth. “I...I don’t even know what the problem is. That’s why I-I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to figure it out for myself before I bothered you with it.”

His grip on your shoulder tightened along with his permagrin. He spoke through clenched teeth and you knew you had fucked up.

“i thought you were supposed to come to me so we could work through it t o g e t h e r. you and me against the world. but,” he squeezed hard then let go of your shoulder and you winced slightly as you could already feel the bruise forming, “it’s obvious that you don’t want that right now. so i’ll give your space. for now.” He turned around and headed back into the living room. 

“oh, and Y/N?” 

“....yes?”

“expect me back tomorrow night. you know what I want.”

You held your breath until you heard Papyrus’s confused stammerings as he was woken up then the telltale sound of sans teleporting. Only when you were positive that you were alone did you let your guard slip a little and you dumped that stupid box out on a metaphorical table and picked the biggest, ugliest feelings to sort through. You barely got any sleep that night and when you returned to work the next day, everyone made comments about your appearance. You wanted to slide into a hole and hide forever.

You had just gotten home and set down your keys and purse when your phone vibrated. Dread crawled into you when you saw the message.

Papyrus (Papaya)  
Xxx-xxx-xxxx

HUMAN. I REQUEST SOME OF YOUR TIME SO WE MAY...DISCUSS SOME THINGS. IT’S ABOUT SANS. PLEASE RESPOND WITH AN APPROPRIATE TIME AND PLACE TO MEET. 

You felt uneasy and sat down on the couch with your head in your hands. Things were spiraling out of your control and your grip was slipping. You laid down on your couch ignoring the mess and musty smell from the other night, falling into sleeps calming embrace. You were still snoring softly when Sans teleported into your house and sat in a chair to watch you sleep, a manic grin on his face as he took notice of the stress lines practically chiseled to your features. His plan was working perfectly. And you were none the wiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus point of view is up next. What is our favorite bubbly skeleton hiding? There's more than meets the eye to him and we've barely scratched the surface...
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave constructive criticism in the comments. I'm always looking to improve. Have a good day or night!


	3. Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is different than Papyrus remembers. A memory from the past makes Papyrus pause in contacting the human for fear of the inevitable retaliation. But the more he thinks about it, the more certain he becomes in his decision.
> 
> Trigger Warnings:  
Emotional Abuse  
Physical Abuse  
Mental Abuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again lol  
I'm so happy people are receiving this so well! Glad there are others out there who love to see the babies suffer as much as I do. *evil laughter*  
But in all seriousness, thank you all so much for giving my fic a chance. I haven't written this much in about a year and it feels amazing that you guys are liking it! Writer's Block is a bitch, especially when it's backed up by chronic depression lol

Papyrus stared at his flip phone and rolled his hands over each other in a repetitive motion, his teeth grinding together as anxiety brewed in his sternum. He had been debating on talking to the human his brother was courting to see if his suspicions were true. He had been noticing the signs and he was hesitant to occur his brother’s wrath but the longer they were together the more the situation escalated and he couldn’t let someone else be a victim to Sans madness. The phone sat there on his coffee table, the plastic case glinting in the light of his living room. It’s almost as if it was taunting him.

“Poor Papyrus, can’t even gather himself together for a minute to send a measly text.”

He grimaced and rushed forward to grab it when he thought more about how wise it would be to talk to the human when he knew if Sans were to find out that they would both be in deep shit, his unjust wrath inevitably drowning them in stupid guilt and doubt. He flipped it open and scrolled to the humans’ contact, typing out his message before deleting it and rewriting it. He did this a couple of times until he was satisfied and his phalange hovered over the send button. A memory flashed in his mind and he stared numbly into space as it played as if on a movie reel.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Papyrus stood with his back to a stove, a pot of spaghetti boiling angrily on a hot eye. A sob wracked its way through his chest and he covered his teeth in a futile attempt to stifle it. Sans looked up at him and hissed, swiping at his face in annoyance.

“Shut the fuck up, you stupid autistic moron.”

Paps sniffled hard and rubbed at his eye sockets, more tears prickling the edges of his vision as he looked down at his hostile brother. 

“Please Brother, Do Not Treat Me In Such A Way. Look At All That I’ve Done For You.”

“kid that doesn’t mean shit in the grand scheme of things,” Sans seethed, “it’s neither here nor there. You are always crying and i’m sick of it. you have nothing to cry about and if you don’t suck it up and act like an ADULT for once in your life, i’m fixing to give you something to fucking cry about.”

Sans stuck his shaking claws in the front pocket of his hoodie and rocked back onto his heels, glaring aggressively up at the taller skeleton. A sneer snaked its way across his skull and blackness reigned in his eye sockets, the usual pin-pricks of light a distant memory.

Papyrus sobbed and turned around, stirring the spaghetti pot and trying to block out the harsh words of his brother.

“You Don’t Know Me Anymore And I Honestly Don’t Understand What Happened To You. You Used To Be So Caring And Considerate And Now You’re Full Of Bitterness And Hate And Pain. You Exercise Your Will Over Others And Revel In Their Struggles. All I Can Think When I See You Is That I Hate Living With You And I Am Immediately Disappointed That You’re Here When I Come Home From Work.”

Sans took a steadying breath and rushed forwards, wrapping a bony hand around Papyrus’ arm and squeezing hard until he heard something crack, a horrendous grin stretching his face. His brother squealed in shock and pain and Sans hummed.

“Told you I’d give you something to cry about.”

Papyrus pulled in a futile effort to escape his insane brother's iron grip but it just made the break bigger.

“You’re insane,” he cried out in pain and Sans laughed.

“ya just now figuring that out? damn, guess you really are a stupid moron. townsfolk were right.”

Paps looked down at his brother and he felt some of the hope that he still held for him die. 

“Please Brother, Let Me Go.” The forgotten spaghetti rumbled angrily as if incensed that it had been forgotten, water bubbling over the sides and quickly evaporating as it met its end at the hot eyes ruthless touch.

“you gonna quit the crocodile tears?”

Papyrus nodded and blinked away the remaining tears, bottling his pain and fear.

“good,” Sans grumbled and let go, turning away and waltzing his way back to the couch, waving flippantly over his shoulder before plopping onto the old and worn furniture, “also better make some more spaghetti, that pot’s done for.”

Paps grunted a shaky affirmative and proceeded to clean up and start over. As he put the new noodles into the pot, he cried silently and prayed to whatever gods that were listening (if any) that if he just held on a bit longer, things would go back to normal.

But deep down he knew...Sans was already too far gone into his madness.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mind made up and SOUL hurting, he hit send and flipped the phone closed, throwing the phone back onto the table. He cradled his skull in his hands and as anxiety gnawed at him while he waited for the humans' response, his resolve solidified. He would talk to the Human and see if he could glean anything from their talk if they would be willing to spill what happens behind closed doors. Though if what he heard the other night from the kitchen when they thought he was asleep served as any indication, he still had a small window of time to persuade the human to leave before the abuse became physical.

The small table buzzed as a message popped up on the screen of his flip phone. He quickly grabbed it and breathed in relief as he read the reply.

HUMAN  
xxx-xxx-xxxx

Sure Paps. You can come over to my house this Tuesday and we can talk.

Yes, Papyrus thought, I will talk to the Human. I will help them. Nevermind Sans, he has no way of knowing. He stood up and slipped the small phone into the pocket of his jeans, straightening his cotton shirt as he headed outside. Locking the door behind him, he started his evening run and did his best to distract himself from thinking about what the future held.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry. I had so much fun writing this chapter and I am not ashamed to revel in this precious baby's torment lol  
Please forgive any mistakes, I haven't had the chance to thoroughly edit this chapter yet. Most of it was written in the dead of night when sleep would be an elusive bastard.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave any constructive criticism in the comments. I'm always looking to improve. Have a good day or night!

**Author's Note:**

> Never said you got away, now did I? lol I'm seriously debating on continuing this Idea and going a little bit into Papyrus's perspective. Just imagine: if poor reader has had to endure that for 10 years, what must Papyrus have gone through and what has he done to protect himself against his brothers' madness? I want to do so much more this idea to be honest but I don't know if I will. If you're interested in reading more, please let me know in the comments!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Please, leave any constructive criticism in the comments. I'm always looking to improve. Have a wonderful day or night!


End file.
